 branch of the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) has declared an indefinite strike action, effective Monday, August 10. The industrial action, which involves non-teaching senior staff across the university, comes in response to unresolved allowance disparities and poor working conditions. Key administrative operations on campus have ground to a halt following an emergency meeting where leadership and general membership unanimously agreed to lay down their tools. Key Offices Shut Down Crucial university units—including IT support, accounting, the development office, and the KNUST Hospital—have closed their doors, leaving routine academic and administrative operations heavily disrupted. Speaking on the motivation behind the strike, GAUA Branch Secretary, Mr. Phanuel Seli Kwadzo Asense, revealed a stark imbalance between the remuneration of teaching and non-teaching staff. "If you pick the least teaching staff member, the allowance offered them compared to the highest non-teaching staff member—there is a disparity of not less than 50%," Mr. Asense stated. He stressed that this financial gap severely impacts the welfare of administrative staff and compromises the overall delivery of university services.){kind=link}
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) branch of the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) has declared an indefinite strike action, effective Monday, August 10.
The industrial action, which involves non-teaching senior staff across the university, comes in response to unresolved allowance disparities and poor working conditions.
Key administrative operations on campus have ground to a halt following an emergency meeting where leadership and general membership unanimously agreed to lay down their tools.
Key Offices Shut Down
Crucial university units—including IT support, accounting, the development office, and the KNUST Hospital—have closed their doors, leaving routine academic and administrative operations heavily disrupted.
Speaking on the motivation behind the strike, GAUA Branch Secretary, Mr. Phanuel Seli Kwadzo Asense, revealed a stark imbalance between the remuneration of teaching and non-teaching staff.
“If you pick the least teaching staff member, the allowance offered them compared to the highest non-teaching staff member—there is a disparity of not less than 50%,” Mr. Asense stated.
He stressed that this financial gap severely impacts the welfare of administrative staff and compromises the overall delivery of university services.
Futile Negotiations
According to executive leadership, the decision to strike follows months of unyielding petitions and stalled negotiations with key government institutions, including the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC).
Mr. Asense clarified that the strike is aimed at government inaction rather than local university leadership or academic colleagues.
“If government is a listening one and would have our concerns addressed, we will consider coming back. We are not fighting the university or the teaching staff,” he added.
Task Force Deployed
To ensure full compliance across campus, GAUA leadership announced plans to deploy task force teams to monitor administrative offices and enforce the strike action in the coming days.
The association maintains that members will not resume duties until concrete steps are taken by the government to bridge the allowance gap and address their welfare concerns.